Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

Name: Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 pint cherry tomatoes; 2 tablespoons olive oil; Pinch of red pepper flakes; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 2 garlic cloves; 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard; 1 shallot; 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 1/4 cup olive oil

By Paige Adams

on Jul 20, 2025

5 from 1 vote

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It’s a two-for-one when you make this roasted tomato vinaigrette. That’s because you get a zesty dressing and roasted cherry tomatoes to toss in a salad. Fresh tomatoes are at their best during peak season. Roasting boosts their tomatoey flavor. Pureeing them with garlic, basil, shallots, red wine vinegar and olive oil is an easy way to make a creamy vegan salad dressing.

Arugula salad with roasted tomato vinaigrette drizzled on it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The Ingredients
How To Make This Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Recipe
How To Properly Dress A Salad
Serving Ideas
Leftovers & Storage
More Tomato Salad Recipes
Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Homemade dressings are so much better than anything you can buy at the grocery. That’s because they don’t have the preservatives and other extras needed for them to be shelf-stable. Also, you can use top-quality ingredients, so your dressing will taste better than store-bought.

This is a simple vinaigrette recipe where you get more than just dressing. It makes sense to roast an entire pint of cherry tomatoes rather than part of one. You don’t need all the roasted tomatoes to puree into dressing, so you can use the rest of them tossed in salads.

Even though this is an oil-based vinaigrette that’s vegan, it has a creamy consistency. I am a salad person who is always oil-and-vinegar first. This recipe has that same good acidity while being a healthy creamy dressing.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including tomatoes, basil, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, mustard and seasonings.

This is what you need:

Tomatoes: The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes. I prefer them over than grape tomatoes because they are more juicy and have more delicate skins.
Garlic: I find that 2 garlic cloves are the right amount to balance with the rest of the ingredients. If you love garlic, you can add another clove.
Shallot: A more mild version of an onion with hints of sweetness and garlic, I puree a shallot with the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.
Fresh basil is the obvious choice for a tomato-based dressing. If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can substitute with a 1/4 teaspoon of an Italian spice blend with a mix of dried basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon and rosemary.
Red wine vinegar adds nice acidity to go with the tomatoes. You can substitute with white wine vinegar. I do not recommend balsamic vinegar because it will be too strong.
Mustard: Whole grain mustard adds flavor and helps the vinegar and oil to emulsify.
Red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper: I season the tomatoes before they roast. That’s enough, so you don’t have to add more when you puree the vinaigrette ingredients.
Olive oil: For the best taste, always use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

How To Make This Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Prep the tomatoes. You can leave your ripe tomatoes whole and stir them with oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. It’s best to use an 8-inch baking dish, so the tomatoes fit pretty snuggly next to each other.

2. Roast the tomatoes. Give them 25-30 minutes. The tomatoes should be very soft with wrinkled skins.

Tomatoes in a baking dish before and after you roast them.

3. Combine 1 cup roasted tomatoes, garlic cloves, whole grain mustard, shallot, basil leaves, red wine vinegar and oil in a food processor or blender. You should have a mix of roasted tomatoes and some of the juices from the baking dish.

4. Puree all the ingredients until smooth. This will take 1-2 minutes for it to get to the right consistency. You can thin it out with the liquid from the baking dish as needed.

Salad dressing ingredients in a food processor bowl and after you puree them.

How To Properly Dress A Salad

You’re probably thinking this is obvious. Yes, you can spoon the vinaigrette over the salad and toss the greens and everything together.

Another way to do it is to spoon dressing into an empty bowl and swirl it around so it coats the sides. (You shouldn’t have a pool of dressing in the bottom of the bowl.) Then add your salad ingredients and toss them. Do this you prefer a more lightly dressed salad.

Serving Ideas

This tomato vinaigrette works with pretty much any kind of lettuce including baby arugula, spinach, kale, iceberg or romaine. I also love it with a pasta salad. Then you can add the roasted tomatoes and other elements such as:

Cheese: parmesan, mozzarella, feta or goat cheese
Nuts: walnuts, almonds or pine nuts
Hard-boiled eggs (diced or sliced)
Avocado (diced or sliced)
Cucumbers (diced or sliced)
Roasted or grilled vegetables (corn, zucchini, squash)
Homemade croutons

You can use this tangy dressing in more than just salads. It can be a dip for veggies and crudités. Make grain bowls with roasted vegetables and drizzle this tomato vinaigrette on top. Or use it as a marinade for chicken, pork or another protein.

Leftovers & Storage

You can store the vinaigrette in a mason jar in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Keep the roasted tomatoes in a separate airtight container. Take the dressing out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before you plan to use it. This gives it time to warm up room temperature and to turn to liquid again. Give it a good stir. If it is too thick, then add some oil.

You can freeze the vinaigrette up to 1 month. Thaw it in the refrigerator.